Key US-Canada border crossing evacuated, closed after bomb threat

A bomb threat on Friday prompted authorities to close and evacuate one of the most important border crossings between Canada and the United States, police said.

A bomb threat on Friday prompted authorities to close and evacuate one of the most important border crossings between Canada and the United States.(Representative image)

A bomb threat on Friday prompted authorities to close and evacuate one of the most important border crossings between Canada and the United States, police said.

Passage in both directions at Saint Bernard de Lacolle in Quebec was blocked shortly after 9:00am (local time) following a “threatening telephone call aimed at customs,” according to Ingrid Asselin of Quebec’s national police agency.

She told AFP that all buildings were evacuated and an investigation was still ongoing two hours after the closure of the checkpoint, located about 60 kilometres south of Montreal on the border between Quebec province and the US state of New York.

The Canadian border services agency said in a tweet that the Saint Bernard de Lacolle POE Highway 15 was currently closed.

The agency was encouraging travellers to re-route to nearby border crossings, one located 20 kilometres to the west and another 50 kilometers to the east.

More than two million visitors cross at the Saint Bernard de Lacolle checkpoint each year.